Business owners facing eviction if plans to demolish a row of shops in Ware go ahead have said they are ‘worried sick’ and have been left “completely in the dark” about what the future holds.

A proposal to knock down the building at 4-18 Amwell End and replace it with new retail units and flats was approved by East Herts District Council on Wednesday (1 January), despite opposition from Ware Town Council.

At a meeting of the town council on Monday (29 January), Councillor Mark Pope said businesses on the parade had been treated 'very poorly' by the landlord and that they should be “taken to task” over their behaviour.

The owners of The Bread Bin, Andrews Fish Bar and The Coffee Bar have said unanimously that they have had no personal contact with the landlord, while one said it was “absolutely not the case” that the director had visited them.

The family-owned Coffee Bar cafe was opened almost 14 years ago

While both The Bread Bin and Andrews Fish Bar have time remaining on their current lease, the owners of The Coffee Bar was not given a new lease after theirs expired several years ago, leaving it in a more precarious position.

Anastasia Stylianou, who has run the cafe with her husband Antonios and son Hristos for the past 14 years, said they have yet to receive a “single word” from the landlord.

The family — who spent tens of thousands of pounds renovating their cafe last year with new ovens, fridges and kitchen surface units — only learned about the plans when a notice was posted on a nearby lamppost.

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“Planning decisions are not granted on the basis of emotion and therefore the fact the business has been in the town for more than 30 years did not even have to be taken into consideration.”

She added: “Whilst we were all disappointed that we haven’t been kept abreast of things so far, we really hope that we can work with the landlord going forward, and that he will look after the businesses that have served the town for so long.”

However the director of landlords Omega Land Holdings, who did not want to be named, said he was “shocked” at the claims, and insisted his tenants are able to contact him if they want to.

He said: “The first thing I did when I bought the building was go and visit the shops and give them my personal contact details.

“They know who to contact — why is it they haven’t aired their views or asked questions?

“What have I done wrong? We’ve spent so much cleaning the place up and we’ve been very flexible with rent and insurance. I just don’t understand it.”

When asked if the businesses had been told what they could expect from the demolition process and how quickly it could begin, he said that the details had not been worked out yet.

He explained: “These are all things that we haven't gone through the process of yet.

“If I owned one of the businesses I’d be worried too but this is just normal business, you get planning permission first.

“We’re not even contemplating doing anything yet, the first phase is getting the permission.”